The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1887-05-05
A WONDERFUL SUBSTANCE

Among the most interesting develon.
ments which have followed in the watLo
of the discovery of petroleum is tho
immense trade which has spruno m
in ozokerite, o%zocerite, as Webster baS
it. No fair substance ever spruno
from more unpromising parentage than
the snowy, pure, ~tasteless, opalescent
wax which is evolved from the loud.
smelling, pitch dregs Of the petroleum
still. The Mining Revaew thus suns
up the many uses to which this remark.
able substance is applied: This come.
ly, impressionable article, with all its
smooth, soft beauty, defes agents
which can destroy the precious metals
and eat up the hardest steel as water
dissolves sugar. Sulphuric and other
potent acids have no more effect on
ozokerite than spring water. 1t is alike
impervious to acid and to moisture.
It's advent seems to have been especial
dispensation in this age of electricity.
Every overhead electric-ligh cable or
underground conduit, or splendor wire,
cunningly wrapped with cotton thread,
all these owe their fitness for conduct.
ing the subtle fluid to the presence of
this wax. And in still more familiar
forms let us outline the utility of this
substance. Every gushing schoolgirl
who sinks her white teeth into chewing.
gum chews this parafine wax. Every
caramel she eats contains this wax,
and is wrapped up in paper saturated
with the same substance. The gloss
seen upon hundreds of varieties of
confectionery is due to the presence
of this ingredient of petroleum, used
to give the articles a certain consisten.
cy, as the laundress uses starch.
So a product taken from the dirtiest,
worst-smelling of tars finds it's way to
the millionaire mansion, an honored
servitor. It aids to make possible the
electric radiance that floods his rooms;
or, in the form of wax candles, sheds
a softer luster over the scene. 1t
polishes the floor for the feet of his
guests, and it melts in their mouths in
the costliest candies. For the insula.
tons of electric wire, parafine wax
has to-day no successful rival, and the
growth of the demand for this purpose
keeps pace with the marvellous growth
of the electric-hghting system. A sin.
gle Chicago firm buys parafine wax by
the carload. Its price is but half that
of bees-wax, and yet the older wax
yields readily to sulphuric OF other acid,
this being test for the presence of bees
wax in parafine. The demand for
parafine for candles as yet heads the
list.
Then comes the need of the paper
consumers. In 1877 a single firm in
New York handled $4,000 reams Of
Ewaxed paper. Not only for wrapping
candy is this paper invaluable, but
fine cutlery, hardware, etc., incased
in waxed paper, is safe from the en-
croachment of rust or dampness.
Fish and butter and a score of other
articles r also thus. wrapped, and
there seems literally no end to the
uses found for the paper saturated
with this pure hydrocarbon. In the
chemists laboratory it is invaluable as
a coating for articles exposed to all
manner of powerful dissolvents; brew
ers find it a capital thing for coating
the interior of barrels. and the maker
of wax flowers stimulates nature IN
sheets of paraffine- And yet, until
Drake drilled his oil well in 1856, the
existence in this country of this boon
to civilization was unsupported, and
it lay in the depth of Pennsylvania
rock, where thousands, possibly mil
lions of years ago it was stored by the
hand of an allwise Creator.-Sc1entyc
american.